NORTH SHORE – North Shore Today headlines on Fiesta Friday: Officials meet in Danvers to discuss affordable housing needs; Rail trail debate getting hotter in Swampscott; Water, sewer rate hikd not as high as requested in Peabody; Narcan available in public buildings in Gloucester; Public Safety Day, noted below; Navigators double win total with double header sweep

North Shore Today newscast with Rick Moore and Bill Newell

Beverly Hires New Boys Basketball Coach

Beverly Athletic Department would like to announce the hire of Matthew Karakoudas as the new boys varsity basketball head coach at Beverly High School. Coach Karakoudas comes to Beverly after spending the last few seasons from 2013-2016 as the Head Coach of Pope John HS and in 2015-16 was the Boston Globe Division 4 Coach of the Year. Coach Karakoudas also spent time as the JV coach at Peabody HS from 2011 to 2013 and freshman coach at St. Mary’s from 2007 -2011. While at Pope John Coach Karakoudas guided his team in 2016 to the Division 4 North Finales. Coach Karahoudas was also an outstanding high school player and a 4 year career player at Salem State while earning his Bachelors of Science Degree.

Cape Ann Regional Response Team Participates in Topsfield Public Safety Day

The Cape Ann Regional Response Team attended Topsfield Public Safety Day where they performed demonstrations and interacted with the public. (CARRT Courtesy Photo)

ROCKPORT– Commanding Officer Lt. Mark Schmink is pleased to announce that the Cape Ann Regional Response Team (CARRT) participated in Topsfield Public Safety Day last weekend.

On Saturday, June 17, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., members of the response team set up equipment and vehicles at the Topsfield Fairgrounds to provide demonstrations, interact with the public and answer questions.

Throughout the day, children had the opportunity to climb inside CARRT’s armored vehicle, mobile command center, ambulance and K-9 vehicle. Attendees could also touch and try on a variety of items on display, including vests, shields, helmets, goggles, gas masks and more.

Officer Joe Archambault demonstrated how he and his partner K-9 Kato apprehend suspects, and Lt. Schmink and Officer Dan Mahoney deployed the team’s military grade drone, showcasing its ability to ascend 1,000 feet into the air in one second.

Also in attendance at the event was Sgt. Mark McCoy, Sgt. Paul Francis, Officer Ryan Davis, Officer Aaron Woodworth, Officer Howard Lewis, Officer Brian Murphy, Officer Corbin Keating, Firefighter Bob Cavender and Firefighter Jon Happel.

For the final demonstration of the day, CARRT illustrated how distraction devices are utilized. The team deployed three flashbangs — a non-lethal explosive device used to temporarily disorient a suspect’s senses — to show the range in sound and strength.

“We always enjoy attending events like Topsfield Public Safety Day because it gives us the opportunity to interact with our community members and showcase the functionality of the Cape Ann Regional Response Team,” Lt. Schmink said. “Members had a great time educating attendees on the different components and roles of our team.”

About CARRT:

The Cape Ann Regional Response Team first formed in 2001 in response to the attacks on Sept. 11 and Columbine High School. Composed of 22 officers and firefighters from Rockport, Manchester, Essex, Topsfield and Ipswich, the team provides valuable manpower and resources to Cape Ann in the event of high risk and dangerous situations.

Since its inception, CARRT has assisted with search and rescue operations, high risk search and arrest warrants, barricaded suspects, hostage situations and acts of terrorism.

###

Commanding Officer Lt. Mark Schmink of the Rockport Police Department partakes in the K-9 demonstration. (CARRT Courtesy Photo)

Navigators Take a Pair

By Gabbi Riggi

LYNN – The North Shore Navigators took one of the games against the Bristol Blues in a doubleheader on Thursday. The victory was the team’s first at home and improved their record to 4-12 while Bristol fell back to 8-11.

Thursday’s pair of victories were reminiscent of last year’s turnaround of a doubleheader sweep in Brockton that turned a then 1-12 team into one that ended the season with a 29-27 record.

The Navigators scored their first run in the fourth inning after Daane Berezo (VCU) singled to get on and was quickly joined on base by Tyler Kapuscinski (Marist) who worked a walk. Chris Cabrera (Broward) singled in Berezo to get on the board.

Brad Douglas (Rhode Island College) singled to start runners on base with two outs and was brought in by a Joey Pena (St. Thomas Aquinas) triple. Pena would come across the plate himself on a throwing error from third to mark the final run in the first game.

Austen Michel was strong again with the ball, giving up one run and striking out four in a seven inning complete complete game. The Navigators offense great deal of run support in the fourth and fifth inning. The first run in the second game came off of the bat of Ted Leathersich who drove a long hit off the base of the wall to bring in Kapuscinski.

Nick Fuhrmann hit a solo shot to deep left center field to put up the first the run of the fourth; Douglas soon followed him home on a pass ball. Alex Brickman doubled to score Berezo and another double by Kapuscinski followed to stretch the Navs lead to 5-1.

Douglas and Nate Rossi (Keene State) both worked walks to load the bases. MacDaniel Singleton smacked a bases clearing triple to bring in the final three runs.

The Navigators have taken three of their last five and look to match Bristol once again on Friday in Connecticut. They take back Fraser Field on Sunday evening to host the Seacoast Mavericks.